The Symposium? Yes, the Symposium
by Nannon-Shell
Summary: Arthur is the only son of well-known and respected Uther, but what happens when their faithful servant Merlin is brought into our hero's first Symposium? Rated T for now, will change to M for later chapters!
1. Prologue

The Symposium? Yes, the Symposium.

So I was casually sat in my Classics GCSE about Athens - yaay Classical Athenians - and this just popped into my head when I was writing about drinking parties and slaves and prostitutes.  
Can I just say... Athenians know how to party!

p.s. This is my first uploaded fic! yay XD please be nice..?

Enjoy ~ Nannon-Shell :3

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing! But you don't need me to tell you that. (Sorry it's so short... Unlike something belonging to Arthur ;P)

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Prologue.

Arthur sighed and made his way into the main living area to sit and have dinner with his father. Unsurprisingly, one of the slaves - Merlin - was just leaving the room with a plate in hand. "Oh! Mister Arthur. Your Father wished for me to tell you that he requires your presence at the Symposium tonight." Merlin gave him his cocky bow of the head before turning and walking through to the kitchen.

It took Arthur a moment to fully register what the boy had said, before he ran to the kitchen after him. "Merlin, what do you mean?" Merlin rolled his eyes with a sigh as he faced the boy he had known his whole life. "I mean what I said. You're wanted at the Symposium tonight." Arthur blinked as he stood stock still before Merlin. "The Symposium?"  
"Yes, the Symposium. Now could one royal _pain_ please move out of the way so I can wash up?" Arthur grumbled but walked out of the kitchen anyway to get changed for that night, "Just because my dad is well known and liked doesn't mean we're royalty."


	2. Chapter 1

**Just to say, thankyou to anyone who alerted/favourited or anything, it means a lot to me! And sorry for not updating sooner, I've had half of this written for aaagges and I feel really bad, but I'm already halfway through chapter 2 so that shall be up soon (hopefully tomorrow) and I'll be writing every day from now until September, so it should be done by then. So, here you go! Hope you like it – you get Merthur interaction ;D**

Enjoy ~ Nannon-Shell :3

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Chapter 1

Uther looked up at the knock on the door, and his guests fell silent, having never heard anyone knock before at one of the man's symposiums. Calling out, Uther motioned for his guests to carry on with their conversations. "You may enter, Arthur. We are not foolish women, with whom you must announce your presence!" The other men laughed along with Uther as the door opened to reveal a nervous looking eighteen year old. Arthur smiled slightly at the men gathered around the room as he closed the door behind him. He cleared his throat awkwardly before stuttering out, "F-father. There aren't enough seats for one more. Where am I to-" He was cut off by Uther. "Not to worry, we've got it sorted. Balinor, if you could fetch Merlin for us?" The elderly man stepped forwards from the shadows carrying a bottle of wine and nodded, his face clear of any emotion. Leaving the wine at Uther's side, he left to find his son.

Arthur turned with a frown to his father. "Merlin? Why Merlin? Don't you normally 'call someone in'?" Uther just chuckled and poured out the remainder of the wine into a large cup. "But not for a man's first symposium. You need to prove yourself a man, Arthur." He thrust the cup into Arthur's hand roughly, ignoring the slight spillage onto his shirt front and the floor. Arthur merely gaped at his father for a moment before taking a sip of the wine and almost spitting it out again in disgust.

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Merlin sighed and re-tied his red neckerchief in a feeble attempt to make himself feel better about what he knew was about to come any moment. He looked up with a wry smile when his father appeared at the door wearing a small frown. "Merlin. I'm sorry you have to go through this, but it's this or living on the streets and begging for money and food." Merlin nodded and put a hand on Balinor's shoulder. "I understand father. It's just hard because he's my best friend." With another sigh, he walked solemnly over to the door of the agora and opened it carefully. "You summoned me, sir?" Uther looked around at the voice and nodded once, quickly. "Yes. Close the door, we don't want your father seeing this now do we?" Merlin shook his head slightly and suddenly found that he couldn't look anywhere but the floor. Staring intently at it, he noticed a wine spillage and sighed, knowing that he would be made to clear it up later that night. He was vaguely aware of Uther talking quietly to his son, and the latter seemed angry about something, and Merlin struggled to make out the words: no… best friend… I can't... followed by a sigh. Merlin had to fight back a smile, _'Arthur thinks of me as a best friend too'_, and turned to look Arthur in the eye. When Uther and the other men had their backs turned ignoring the two, he whispered, "It's fine. It's happened before so it'll be okay." Arthur shook his head slowly and pressed his lips into a tight line before mumbling back, "_It's not fine_. And I don't care if it's happened before, it's not happening now."

Before Merlin could do or say anything else, Arthur put the cup he was still holding down onto a side table. "Father," Uther turned in slight surprise, "Aren't you doing it yet Arthur?" Taking a deep breath Arthur uttered out, "No. And I won't ever be doing it. I have grown up with Merlin as though he were actually my brother. He is my best friend. I don't care if he is our servant, and should expect this sort of thing. I won't do it. I will not – excuse my crude-ness – shove my dick in him and fuck him so you can determine whether or not I am a man. I've had enough of you treating Merlin like scum. He's annoying, idiotic, foolish, clumsy and_ Zeus_ knows what else, but do not offend him as a human being by treating him in such a way." With a huff, Arthur spun round and grabbed Merlin's hand, dragging the wide-eyed boy from the room of gaping men. As they reached Arthur's room upstairs, Merlin was finally let out of Arthur's tight grasp on his hand. Merlin blinked at Arthur, hovering in the boy's doorway, and mouth hanging open slightly."You… Arthur, you just… I don't… What just happened?" Arthur smirked from where he was laying across his bed. "I just saved us from a very sexual and embarrassing encounter? Finally yelling at my father - like I have wanted to for several years - in the process? Are you really that thick Merlin, that you can't remember what happened moments ago?" The older boy chuckled at the look on his best friends face before patting the small space on the bed next to him. "Well _join_ me, you idiot!" Merlin grinned and literally bounced over and onto the bed, curling up small so he could fit properly.

The two stayed there in silence, rolling their eyes at the other occasionally as laughter and shouts were carried up the stairs to them from the symposium, until Merlin finally spoke again. "Did you really do that for me?" Arthur scoffed in reply, "I did it for myself you idiot! Do you honestly think I would get all of that off my chest for some annoying servant like you?" Arthur turned away and didn't see the huge grin on Merlin's face fade slowly away into a thin line that was slowly disappearing. "Right. Of course. You only think about yourself and what you can gain from something." Merlin sighed and rolled off of the bed, walking quickly out of the room and slamming the door shut behind him so Arthur wouldn't see the tears that were threatening to stain his cheeks. He positively bolted when he heard movement on the other side of the door, and didn't look back to see if Arthur was there. Upon reaching his own, much smaller room, Merlin crawled into his bed and finally let the tears fall, sobbing into a pillow in an attempt to muffle the heart-wrenching wails emitting from him.

Arthur had opened the door to find no trace of Merlin being there at all. Frowning, he turned back into his room and shut the door quietly, sitting on the edge of his bed and looking mildly confused – though Merlin would say that was his normal facial expression. _'Why did he run off? He's my best friend, and he knows I joke about serious things all the time because I hate people being so damn serious!'_ Arthur groaned and fell back onto his bed, his last thought before sleep claiming him being: _'I'll make it up to him tomorrow'_.


	3. AN:

Okay, please don't hate me..?

I didn't want to be one of the people who put ANs as chapters but I just wanted to put this up now so you all know that I'm continuing with this fic! I feel really, really bad about this and I don't want to try and come up with an excuse that none of you will believe and would make me feel even worse. I honest to god just forgot about this. No joke, and I know it's bad, but there you go.

I know I promised more chapters through the summer and I just feel terrible. So an fyi message now: I will have chapter two up tonight (or early in the morning) and chapter three tomorrow or the day after. This WILL happen. And when chapter three is up, I will delete this and we can all pretend that I never forgot about my babies. Okay? …. Okay.

Sorry again for forgetting. I'm probably going to beat myself up about this for aaaaggeessss now but hey, I deserve it.

~ Nannon-Shell

**UPDATE!**

Hi, sorry to delay chapter two even more but I have a shit case of writer's block right now, I'm tired as hell and I have a really bad kink in my neck. It's one am. I haven't been up this late in almost two months. My head is full of 00Q and I feel crap. I pinky promise that I will have chapter two up tomorrow if I finish it. Otherwise it'll be Thursday. And seriously, please don't hate me? D;


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